Rafael Fiziev Sparring Partner on UFC Baku win, PFL Africa 1 Bout, and More

Karim Henniene will now take on Asiashu Tshitamba at PFL Africa 1 on July 19th. At the time of this recording, Antero dos Santos was the initial opponent for Henniene before dos Santos withdrew.

Henniene appeared on MMA Canada to cover several subjects, such as: -how it feels being on a massive international stage like this as part of PFL's continued global expansion efforts

-Xavier Alaoui fighting on the PFL MENA circuit recently, and the tight ties that he has with Alaoui as both refine their skills

-Alaoui having a history of cornering Henniene since the amateur days and how that will continue for this Cape Town clash

-his last time appearing on this network being ahead of his pro MMA debut, and what the biggest differences are from Henniene, then in our first interview, compared to where he is at now

-working at Kill Cliff FC and Bangtao Muay Thai over the years

-working with Rafael Fiziev in Thailand and thoughts on Fiziev's recent win at UFC Baku to get back on track

-coming into MMA with a judo base in the context of his thoughts on decorated judoka Kayla Harrison winning the UFC championship 

-getting a photo op with Dana White in Toronto at Unified MMA 55 that took place during the UFC 297 fight week

-fighting in some of Canada's biggest regional shows before embarking on this debut effort in the PFL Smart Cage

-being excited to see Francis Ngannou cageside and the elation with fighting in front of the PFL Africa chairman

-looking to be the first Algerian-Canadian to win the PFL belt